


Radiated

by RieWiggles



Series: Stories of the Wastelanders [2]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/F, Ghoul, Sole Survivor, The Children of Atom, radiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-29
Updated: 2017-11-29
Packaged: 2019-02-08 12:41:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12864744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RieWiggles/pseuds/RieWiggles
Summary: .:.Lore Oneshot.:.Cait receives severe radiation burns to her face. When she is rescued by the least suspected person, she realizes that perhaps it is okay to ask for help.





	Radiated

**Author's Note: I’m trying to fix things up to make this shit better, but in the meantime, my damn urge to keep typing up new shit is still in play. I would say I’m still rusty. I’m heckin’ rusty.**

* * *

 

**2288**

* * *

 

The pain was unbearable.

Every day Cait took off to inject the junk in her system. Psycho was the only thing that kept her system running. It was the only thing that kept her strong. It kept her together.

The air was tense. A Radstorm was coming in. The world was slowly getting darker. Over the distance, Cait spotted a group of people slowly traveling South. She was nearing Fort Hagen, tired and weary.

Upon closer inspection, the redhead had spotted the group had donned rags, metal-like accents to accommodate for the stitched wreck they donned. She shook her head.

“Damn cultists!”

Cait began to attempt to sneak her way past the Children of Atom. Unfortunately, they had already spotted her attempt. Radiated waves began to travel to her, with a wave of fury. She dodged one, until the other knocked her back. It hit her straight in the head, causing a massive burning. She rolled around the ground, groaning, crying, as her face burned like acid. The group made their way in her direction, muttering words about “Atom” that she drowned out. Cait felt sick to her stomach. Her world was slowly blackening due to the massive pain she felt all over. She began to crawl, before grabbing her shotgun. She blew a cultist with desperate movement, crawling towards a rock with all she had. The world slowly went black, her face still burning.

As she passed out, a sound of bullets began to rain over her ears.

* * *

 

Everything felt like it was spinning. The smell of putrid mold sucked up into Cait’s nostrils. She sat up, rubbing her head. It hurt. It was a mixture of a migraine and a punch. She groggily darted her eyes around the room, before spotting a familiar figure.

“Were you trying to get me on the front page of Publick Occurrences?” Cait sarcastically remarked.

The figure smiled. Her black locks fell to her shoulders. She donned a red trench coat, complete with black jeans, boots, and a striped scarf. Upon her clothing was writing utensils and a book of notes.

Piper came up to the redhead. She sat down on the couch.

“Well, this just in: someone got a huge burn to her face.”

Cait rubbed her fingers against her cheeks. One side was massively burned. Feeling up to her nose, it was tender. Her left eye was the worst, almost closed shut. It felt almost wet, as if it was bleeding.

Piper grabbed a handkerchief and a bottle of bourbon. She poured the substance onto the cloth, before lightly patting it over Cait’s injury.

“So this means that I’m… I’m burning up.”

“It doesn’t look as bad as it could’ve been,” Piper replied.

“Well, my pretty face is gone. That says enough.”

Piper sighed. She gave the cloth to the redhead, before getting up from the seat. She waved her arms around for a second, before suddenly turning around.

“What went through your mind, Cait? You could’ve died!”

“Why do you care?”

The brunette placed her hands on her hips. She looked up, her legs stretching from each other. They remained planted onto the ground.

“Nate is worried about you.”

“Again, why do you care?”

“… I just do, Cait.”

She waved her arms around again. Piper tried to avoid eye contact.

“Look, you may not seem like the person who cares about people, but well, leave that job to me.”

The bitter expression on Cait’s face left. She looked almost solemn.

“What are you saying?”

“We know you’ve been hitting the Psycho a little too much. It’s made you careless.”

The redhead looked down.

“I’ve always done it.”

“And it’s killing you.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Cait’s voice was bitter.

“That’s why I snuck off. I’ve been trying to fix this!”

“How?”

Piper crossed her arms. Cait didn’t want to tell her what was going on. She didn’t want the reporter to know what the plan was. Regardless, she knew one thing: Piper knows her way around getting to the _truth_.

“I’m looking for a Vault… I want this to stop. I heard there’s a cure there for my addiction. I need this.”

“Is that why you left all by yourself?”

“Nate has too much on his shoulders. He shouldn’t worry about me.”

“He’s been asking about you. That’s why I followed you out here.”

The redhead’s eyes widened.

“We do care, Cait. I care a lot. I know that you’re gruff and all that mighty stuff, but believe me: you don’t want to do this alone.”

“Well, what should I do?”

Piper approached the couch, before sitting down. She began to rub the fighter’s shoulder. Suddenly, Cait felt the reporter slip her arm around to the other side. Her body moved closer, resting her head onto the redhead’s left shoulder. Cait sank into the fabric as Piper moved her arm down to the back, rubbing softly.

“Ask us to help you. Believe me, asking never hurts.”

“But I feel weak for asking.” Cait’s right eye welled up.

“You’re not weak. You’re the strongest woman I know.”

The reporter broke the hug, looking into the green eyes of the fighter. Her smile was sincere. For once, Cait didn’t feel alone. She brought herself into Piper, embracing her. She wanted to cry, to let all the tears out, but the migraine was doing that just as well. The reporter returned the embrace, sliding her fingers through the red locks. It actually calmed the throbbing pain down.

When Cait broke the hug, she looked almost surprised. She had no idea what was happening. Very rarely did the redhead break down in front of someone… or perhaps she never did. What was important was at that very moment, she began to play with Piper’s calloused fingers, her lips moving to meet her cheeks. The stunt left the reporter rather perplexed, blushing after the fact.

Cait had known Piper for some time, more the fact that they knew Nate. It was common that the redhead was rather blunt and flirtatious to the reporter. However, that moment was different. Piper saved Cait’s life. Perhaps there was more to the reporter than turned down flirts.

To Piper, Cait was just a broken person. Perhaps she needed fixing.

No… she _did_ need to be fixed.

“Let’s get out of here,” Piper said softly. She closed her fingers into Cait’s hand, before getting off the couch. They didn’t let go of each other. Instead, the two Wasteland damsels made their way up the stairs and out the door.

“Promise me that you’ll ask for help a lot more.”

“As long as you come with me to the Vault.”

Piper looked over to the redhead, smiling.

“There’s no way I’m missing out on a story from a Vault!”

* * *

 


End file.
